Meng, Hevesi and Schulman Issue Statement on Flooding in Queens
September 13, 2022
QUEENS, NY – This afternoon, U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-Queens), Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi (D-Queens) and Councilwoman Lynn Schulman (D-Queens) issued the following statement following the flooding that occurred in Queens today.
"Once again, Queens is forced to endure flooding as a result of heavy rainfall, just nearly two weeks after the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Ida devastating our borough.
Many constituents who were working toward rebuilding their lives now face additional setbacks, and many who were not impacted by Ida must now deal with the damage caused to their properties.
As we deal with the impacts of climate change, the threat of future floods will continue, which is why we need immediate action.
We are doing everything we can to make sure that Queens gets the proper funding to help mitigate flooding. This includes getting the city and state to use money from the federal infrastructure bill that was signed into law late last year. It is crucial that a portion of the funding allocated for New York be used to address this problem here in our borough.
Our offices have been in constant contact with city and state agencies, and we will continue to demand that these resources be used for things such as upgrading outdated sewers and catch basins so that our communities can be adequately protected from future storms.
Queens residents cannot continue rebuilding from one disaster to the next, only to wonder how much rain may fall. An immediate investment of infrastructure funding for needed upgrades will help save lives, and spare millions of people the economic burdens they face. This is the right thing to do, and it must be done."